Like many Las Vegas casino operators, Derek Stevens misses Canadian visitors. He’s come up with a novel way to try to attract them back to Nevada.
Through a new “At Par” initiative unveiled on Thursday, the three Vegas casinos owned by Stevens, Circa Resort and Casino, The D Las Vegas and Golden Gate Hotel & Casino, will treat Canadian dollars as if they were U.S. dollars across select gaming, hotel and beverage offerings until Aug. 31, 2026.
Within certain parameters, eligible guests will get $1 USD in value for every $1 CAD spent, valuing the Canadian dollar far above the current exchange rate of approximately 72 U.S. cents.
“A promotion where you save 5% or something, that’s not really material if you’re going to take a trip to Las Vegas from anywhere in Canada,” Stevens told Canadian Gaming Business in an interview. “There’s a lot that goes into it, the cost of a flight, you’re probably going to stay in Vegas for three days. So, I thought there has to be a significant enough incentive. Where the dollar is right now, I thought, boy, this is a perfect time to do this.”
Pay Canadian, buy American
There are three elements to the “At Par” promotion, Stevens explained.
Canadians staying at any of his hotels will pay the same number of Canadian dollars as the listed American dollar price, effectively getting a discount on the exchange rate. Upon showing their Canadian citizenship or government ID, they will get the $1-for-$1 rate at check-in, charged directly in Canadian dollars. That extends to select beverage venues at the hotels, including the aptly named BarCanada at The D.
Finally, casino guests can redeem a slot play voucher worth up to $500 USD at the $1-for-$1 rate. So, instead of getting $500 of slot machine play for approximately $690 CAD at the current exchange rate, Canadians would get it for $500 CAD. That offer applies to all Canadians, not only visitors staying at any of Stevens’ three hotels.
Vegas hurt by Canadian absences
Stevens has introduced the currency-exchange offer at Circa and his other properties amid the declining Canadian visitation that has plagued Vegas over the last 12 months or so, as ongoing tensions continue between Canada and the U.S. under President Donald Trump’s administration.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) estimated that while the total number of visitors to Vegas between January and November 2025 dropped 7.4% year over year, there was a roughly 24% decline in visitors from Canada, historically Vegas’ largest international market.
The respective CEOs of Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International each referenced fewer Canadians as a challenge last summer, and Canadian airlines such as AirCanada, WestJet and Flair reported steep drops in traffic from Canadian airports to Vegas. LVCVA CEO Steve Hill and other tourism leaders even visited Canada in 2025 to discuss ways to rectify relationships and entice Canadian tourists back to the resort city.
“We miss Canadians,” admitted Stevens. “We want them back.”
Promotion inspired by life on the border
Stevens may be a Vegas man now, but he grew up in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, just across the Detroit River from Windsor, Ont. He recalled venturing across the border to visit places like the former Don Cherry’s restaurant. He also explained how his youth inspired the “At Par” idea.
“I still remember going to hockey games at [former Detroit Red Wings stadium] Joe Louis Arena and seeing all the different restaurants or bars or hotels with signage up front that had ‘a US flag equals a Canadian flag’, ‘$1 equals $1’ and all that messaging. And I remember that had such a big impact on business.
“Tourism has slowed down, some of it has to do with the cost of flights, the exchange rate. We miss Canadians and I thought, what about bringing up this idea and adding a gaming component to it? I think we could have a lot of fun with that. We met with the Nevada Gaming Control Board and talked through what we wanted to do.
“We’re excited. Even if we get a few people, we just want to make sure all Canadians know that we miss you and we want you back.”
